Create and update key results

Once you have created strategic goals and objectives, you can create key results, which are measurable targets that define the success of an objective or goal. You can measure results in the forms of object count, dollars, percentage, or net promoter score (NPS). You can also create multiple results within a strategic goal or objective. To keep your goals and objectives measurable, 3 or more key results are recommended.

Create and update key results in the OKR hub:

1. Select Strategy, Portfolios, Solutions, Programs, or Teams in the top navigation bar.
2. If you've selected Portfolios, Solutions, Programs, or Teams in the top navigation bar, select the entity you want to view the objectives tree about.
3. On the sidebar, select OKR hub in the list of options; the OKR hub displays.

Alternatively, create and update key results on the objectives page:

1. Select Strategy, Portfolios, Solutions, Programs, or Teams in the top navigation bar and select the entity you want to create objectives for.
2. On the sidebar, select More items in the list of options.
3. Select Portfolio objectives, Solution objectives, Program objectives, or Team objectives; the objectives page displays.
4. Select the objective you want to create a key result for in the grid to open its details panel.

Topics in this article:

• Add a key result
• Update and track a key result
• Review and update objective score

Add a key result

Manage key results in the key results section of an objective’s details panel.

To add a key result:

1. Select the plus (+) sign.
2. Enter a key result summary in the corresponding field.
3. Select the type of key result (cost/currency, count, percentage, decimal score, or Net Promoter Score) from the corresponding dropdown menu.
4. Select Add. The key result displays in the key results list, and you can further configure its details.

For each key result listed, you can expand its details using the arrow to the left of its summary. The details set during key result creation are displayed as fields beneath the key result summary. If a field can be edited, it’ll highlight in gray when you hover your cursor on it. To edit a field, select the text you’d like to edit. You can manage the following information:

• Current value: The present amount of progress toward your key result, measured in terms of the type of key result (percent, count, cost, etc.).
  Note: Use the Check-in button to update the current key result value.
• Goal value: The target that the objective wants to achieve, measured in terms of the type of key result (percent, count, cost, etc.).
• Baseline value: The initial amount of progress made against the key result, entered when it is first created.
• Key result owner: The user who will ultimately be responsible for reporting on the key result. For new key results created from this section, this field automatically is set to the user creating the key result, but you can select another owner, if desired.
• Target completion date: The date by which you want to achieve the goal value.
• Type of key result: The method by which the key result is measured. This field can’t be edited.
• Configure your score: For score key results only, edit the default score descriptions to define each score value. For each status and score listed, select the corresponding Score description field to edit the definition. Optionally, you can hide a score from displaying in the scoring criteria in the Check In pop-up window by selecting the eye icon; the score’s description cannot be edited if hidden.

To delete a key result, select the More  icon and then select Delete.

After creating key results for an objective, consider adding aligned work items as an additional progress tracking measure.

Update and track a key result

Return to the Key Results section of the details panel regularly to update and check on your progress. On each key result, you can view reports, discussions around the key result, and update your progress with regular check-ins.

Reports
Select the Reports button next to a key result to display a pop-up window with a graph of key result progress. Make sure to manually set a baseline to display the trends on the progress graph.
Note: You can also view reports for a key result by selecting the More icon and then selecting Reports.

Check-in
To check in on a key result:

1. On the desired key result, select the Check-in button to display a pop-up window.
   Note: You can also access the Check-in pop-up window by selecting the More icon and then selecting Check-in. 
2. Select the date and time for the progress update using the selection fields at the top of the pop-up.
3. To the right of the date and time selectors, enter a value in count, currency, percentage, NPS or score, depending on the type of result.
4. Optionally, add a note in the rich-text field below the date/time/count fields.
5. Select the Update button; your value is added under the Previous updates section.

You may delete past updates using the Delete link below each update.

Review and update objective score

Key results are just one way to measure the success of your objective. As you add and update key results, track the progress of the overall objective in the objective and key result progress module, located in the upper-right of the details panel.

The indicators in this module provide an overview of progress from several perspectives.

• Objective score: A measure of success determined by updates on your key results. The objective score is color-coded:
  • Red: 0-0.3
  • Orange: 0.4-0.6
  • Green: 0.7-1.0

This score is calculated as the average of all key result scores. 

Example of objective score calculations

Objective A has two key results. One key result has a score of 1.0. The other key result has a score of 0.7. The objective score for Objective A = (1.0+0.7)/2, or 0.85, which would be rounded to 0.9.

Objectives that haven’t had progress recorded on any key results will display a score of Not Scored, which will display as N/S on other pages in Jira Align. If at least one key result has progress recorded, other key results with no progress are included in the score calculation with a value of 0.

• Key result progress: This progress bar is a roll-up of progress on associated key results. Point to the bar to see the percentage of progress achieved against the objective’s key results.
• Aligned work progress: This progress bar reflects the number of accepted aligned work items on the objective, compared to all of the objective’s directly aligned work items. Child work items of your directly aligned work are not included in the progress calculations.

At the bottom of the section, you can update the confidence score. This is an optional manual scoring method that can override the calculated objective score. If the confidence score is updated, the overridden score will also display on other pages where the objective score is displayed, such as the OKR hub:

1. Select Update confidence score.
2. The Override dialog box displays. In the Override Score section, choose a new score in the dropdowns.
3. Add any additional notes, such as a reason for the override, in the text box.
   Note: If you use Enterprise Insights (EI), rich-text formatting in the note field will be stored with the JSON data sent to EI. You’ll need to remove these formatting values using your data visualization tool.
   

Select the Update button to save the overridden score. A message will display that the score has been overridden and the overridden score will display as the objective score.